Sicily
Sicily is the biggest island in the Mediterranean sea and is
separated from the Italian peninsula by the
strait of
Messina ( 3km only) . Part of the territory is mountainous and hilly. The coast
offers a landscape of fascinating beauty and groups of marvellous smaller
islands are scattered around the coast ( i.e. the Eolie
islands , Ustica, the Egadi
islands, Pantelleria and
Lampedusa , the latter not far from Lybia) .
The economy is a mix of Agriculture ( Olive, Fruit, Vegetables, Wine), Fishing,
Industry ( especially Chemical industries), and recently, only over the past few
years, Tourism has become important for the economy of the island. As
Sicily was in the past a Greek colony , the Hellenic heritage is remarkable
together with Roman and Arab -.Byzantine vestiges.
My Suggestions:
It is not easy for me to indicate some area/cities because
the whole region is worth a visit. I will start off from the north-west:
Palermo ( capital of the region) was founded by the Phoenicians and so
its history counts over 2000 years . In
Palermo you can visit the historical centre and some Churches and Palaces of
various style,
Norman and Arab architecture. From
Palermo you can easily reach (
15 Km) the city of
Monreale for a visit to the Cathedral
built in
1174, a fine examples of Arab/Norman architecture. The Cathedral interior
contains the largest cycle of beautiful Byzantine mosaics. Another city to be
visited is Cefalù (
70 Km from
Palermo) founded in the 5th Century B.C. by the Greeks. The
historical centre - with its Cathedral built in
1131 in Norman architecture, is in a medieval style with very narrow roads .
Going south you will arrive at the archaeological site of
Segesta ( city founded by the Greek on 4th
Century B.C.) with an interesting
Greek
Temple and Greek Theatre. From
Segesta you can easily arrive at
Selinunte another archaeological site .
Selinunte was founded in the 7th Century B.C. and site
was composed of five temples. Today all that remains to be seen is an
impressive mass of ruins. From Selinunte you will
take the direction to
Agrigento to see “the
Valley of
Temples” – Unesco World Heritage site - that is still today the most
sublime evidence of the Greek civilization in
Sicily. Among the various
Temples the one called “Tempio
della Concordia” ( Peace/Harmony Temple) is the only one still stands
almost intact (it was built in 430 B.C.). From
Agrigento you will go to the city of
Piazza Armerina where you can visit a Roman Villa
built in 4th Century A.D. The Villa called “Villa del
Casale” – Unesco World Heritage site -
contains the richest, largest and best preserved collection of Roman Mosaics in
the world . From Piazza Armerina you can move
to
Ragusa and visit the old upper city called “
Ragusa Ibla”,
ancient city built in Baroque style. Another city where we can admire the
Baroque style is the city of Noto
with its famous Cathedral; both Ragusa
Ibla , Noto and others
six towns in South-Eastern Sicily are - Unesco World Heritage site - for
Baroque Style. From Noto you can reach the city of
Syracuse – Unesco World Heritage site - Here too we can find traces of
Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Baroque architecture. You can visit the Greek Theatre
, The Temple of Apollo and the Ear of Dionysius in a stone quarry and you can
take a walk around the old city ( called Ortigia)
with numerous historical landmarks e.g. the Cathedral. After
Syracuse you can go to
Taormina with its famous Greek Theatre, still
in use, overlooking the fantastic blue sea. From here you can go for a
short tour to the slopes of the Etna volcano which is still active to
this day. At night it is very interesting to see the flow of the lava.
I haven’t mentioned the beauty of nature, the gorgeous
coasts and sand beaches and small islands but …
Sicily is all of this and much more too.
